Capacity

To begin our latest theme in numeracy, Yellow Class spent Monday morning undertaking a range of practical capacity tasks. I'd like to point out that the water was coloured to make the reading of capacity easier! The class compared a variety of containers to guide them with their estimates as to what their capacity might be. Then they filled the containers with water and poured the contents into measuring jugs to establish the actual capacity.

The children certainly had fun, the weather was incredibly kind and we all learnt something new...

A Sweet Introduction to Fractions

This morning Yellow Class started out on their latest Numeracy theme, fractions. The children all has a bag of 20 Jelly Tots (other jelly sweets are available) and were asked to organise them in a methodical way. There were some links to our previous data handling work, but the key was to develop an understanding of what a fraction actually is ( the number out of the whole amount) to enable the class to be able to work out fractions of shapes and amounts as the theme progresses. It appears that recent multiplication and division work will also come in rather handy...

The Witching Hour

On Thursday morning Mr Pearce had to pop out for a while, but luckily a last-minute supply teacher stepped in to fill his shoes. With a Welsh(ish) accent, a delightful hat, and a "simply magnificent" (if rather small) broom, The Witch came to talk to the children and answer their questions.

It was a fortuitous visit as the children in Yellow class have been studying books by the renowned children's author, Julia Donaldson, and were able to find out all about The Witch's escapades in Room on the Broom.

Yellow Class Outdoor Sculptures

Yellow Class outdoor sculptures were inspired by looking at some work by Andy Goldsworthy and also using our topic theme of Rocks and Soils. Under Mrs Exton's guidance they carefully collected rocks and stones from the mound on the meadow left by the recent building work - this must give us more points for innovative recycling!   The results are still currently on display on or near the mound if you haven't yet seen them.

 Year 2 children took a spiral theme for their creation in the first week.

 Year 3 children wove 'Willowsaurus' , standing on a sandy plinth.

 Year 4 began by building a dry stone wall which then 'magically' transformed into a crocodile/gecko/lizardy type creature! 

This 'snail' was created by Year 2/3 children and Mrs Lock after undertaking some stone painting in the Aboriginal dot painting style.

Year 3 'Mini- Olympics'

 This morning the Year 3 children set out for Debenham to take part in a 'mini-olympics' competition, a little unsure of what to expect. However they seem to have been inspired by the recent successes of the older children and came back bearing a total of 12 medals, of which 3 were gold.
The events  today were Beanbag Boccia, Foam Javelin, Cupstacking, Standing Long Jump,  Unihoc and an Obstacle Relay.
Well done everybody!

                                    Here they are in their moment of glory on the podium!

Yellow Class Visit to Cambridge Museum of Classical Archaeology

Despite being apprehensive of the weather yesterday, today dawned kindly and we were able to set off to Cambridge for our postponed museum trip.  On arrival we were met by Jacqui, the Museum's Education Officer, who very quickly inspired the children with her enthusiasm.
She gave us an initial introduction, and was really surprised by the amount of  information the children already knew about the myths and characters in them. The children were then give time to just look, no writing or drawing. We came back together to discuss what they'd found, and again she was impressed by their observations. There followed an activity where the children had to form statues as part of a pediment - the top of a temple. Then some of them imitated some of the statues around them for their friends to guess which one. (Some were much easier to copy than others!)
Next we went off in small groups to look in more detail at some of the themes running through the exhibits, which included Athletes, Fighting, Colour, Gods and Goddesses, and of course the mighty Herakles.

We finished our visit by hearing the story of  Perseus and Medusa and found out why Athena has a Gorgon's head on her breastplate.
After a short walk into town, and lunch, we popped into the Fitzwilliam Museum briefly whilst waiting for the coach, to look at their collection of greek pottery. I think, parents, that many of you may be being asked to take your children back to Cambridge in the holidays as there was so much more to see but no time!
All in all a good day, endorsed by the fact that the museum curator congratulated the children on their enthusiasm, knowledge and understanding of the subject for ones so young. Well done Yellow class!

Romans and Greeks Day

On Thursday we celebrated the culmination of our half-term's work on Romans in Blue Class, and Greeks in Yellow Class, with an activity day, in which the children were invited to dress as an Ancient Roman or Greek.

In the morning in Blue Class, we prepared a range of Roman recipes which were taken from the E2BN Cookit! website's History Cookbook. We worked in groups to produce a range of foods (most of which seemed to contain honey) including Bean and Chickpea Salad, Dates Alexandrine, Cucumeres, Tiger Nut Sweets and Honey Cake.

In the afternoon, we dressed up and took in in turns to be slaves, handing around the food to our wealthy masters and mistresses, who were lounging on the floor in true Roman style.

The banquet was followed by some Gladiatorial bouts using the shields, swords and armour that many of us had made for homework (with strict instructions not to actually cause each other any bodily injuries!)

With adrenaline pumping we then set off to the hall where it was finally time to test the trebuchets we had been building in groups. Our target was the fort we produced last week, the ultimate test against marauding hordes!

We were then treated to some Greek Tragedies: a collection of short plays based on Greek myths, performed by Yellow Class. 

Thank you to all the parents who produced the lovely costumes to make this such a special day. We had a fantastic time!

Early Evening News...Friday 2nd December.

The pirate ship has been sunk!
Red class this afternoon received another letter - a cry for help from Sweep! It was addressed to the Red Rescuers ( if you recall they rescued the mermaid earlier in the week), but they needed to enlist the help of Yellow Class and Jennie ( because she was the tallest) for the mission to succeed.

They had to teach the pirate dance to Yellow Class, then we all had to do it together! Chaos - but mission accomplished - Sweep was rescued and returned safe and sound to Mr Pearce.


The ship sadly floundered in the storm - and is no more.

Friday 2nd December - Newsflash!

Parrot eaten by crocodile!

Sweep stuck at the top of the mast!

Map discovered!

Yellow class investigators have been chasing around all morning looking for clues and trying to decipher the map. They are looking for a mysterious 'x' . We will bring you more information on the early evening bulletin.

Pirate update!

Thursday 1st December

This morning Yellow Class children reported seeing a crocodile guarding a small box, that looked to be a treasure chest. Those brave enough tried to get to the box to see if it was indeed treasure, and all they found was a coconut and a few rings inside it. But there ensued a fervent discussion about whether there was anything inside the coconut! Could it be gunpowder? Could it be Tinkerbell?! Could it just be a food source for hungry pirates?

Later on in the afternoon another mystery was discovered in the school storecupboard - a huge crack in the ceiling tiles, prompting thoughts that the pirates must be hiding in the loft!

What's going on in our school hall?

On Tuesday 29th November we all arrived at school to find warning tape around the hall doors and a no entry sign on the window. Having been given clearance to investigate, the Year 2 children discovered that a cardboard pirate ship had mysteriously appeared overnight! Being intrigued and very inquisitive they set about thinking about why it was there and who it belonged to. (Strangely co-incidentally they had only been watching Peter Pan the day before as part of literacy.) Many ideas rebounded around the rest of the class - some thinking that pirates were off burying treasure in the hideouts - or even the ship might be a decoy and they are really marauding around Earl Soham.

On Wednesday morning the children were startled to find the mermaid from Red Class had been kidnapped, and was tied to the mast by her hair! There was also a pair of boots lying nearby.

Red Class Children, at first, thought Yellow Class had kidnapped her but they had a note delivered to their classroom saying "We kidnapped your mermaid, haarr! Don't tell those scurvy yellow kids!"

Well - Yellow Class were a little indignant at this as you can imagine, and protested their innocence, loudly!
After lunch Red Class found another note claiming to be from the mer-nappers saying "We might release her if you do a dance for us, haaarrr!!"  So Red Class did successfully perform a dance and managed to rescue their mermaid safely.
But what will tomorrow bring...?

Dental Health Topic - Yellow Class

 
 
On week 3 of our Dental Health Topic Mrs Rice brought some disclosing tablets for us to investigate the two types of plaque we might find on our teeth. It caused great excitement and hilarity when mouths and tongues turned blue! The children then used their own toothbrushes to practice the correct way to clean their teeth, after a demonstration with a gigantic set of teeth!
 
 

Dental Health Nurse Visit - 2nd Session

This afternoon's session was all about tooth decay. Plaque was described as being 'like a glue stick' almost invisible, but sugar sticks to it really well. The children found out that plaque germs love to eat sugar as it helps to make them grow much faster.

The children looked briefly at brushing teeth (more on this area next week) and how plaque starts to grow one hour after teeth have been brushed - and it grows all day long... The plaque and sugar mix together to create an acid which is not good for teeth!

The children then looked at the importance of healthy snacks between meals which contain no added sugar. Having brought in tins and packets of food, it was amazing for the children to see how many foods have added sugar.A small bottle of 'fizzy cola' contains an incredible 11 teaspoons of sugar!

Dental Health Nurse Visit

This afternoon, Nicki Rice (Dental Health Nurse) joined Yellow Class for the first of three visits. This work is part of the 'Healthy Bodies' topic currently being undertaken by the children. Today's session looked at the teeth in general as part of the skull, what teeth actually do, the different parts of teeth and the different types of teeth that children, adults and animals have.

French in Yellow Class, Monday 4th July

On Monday our normal french class with Madame Crimp included a visit by some of her high school students. They taught the lesson - it was all about food!

Year 3 at Foxburrow Farm

Year 3 children from Earl Soham joined their peers from a number of other local schools for a day of team challenges and activities at Foxburrow Farm.
According to reports, team work was in abundance and the children encouraged and looked after each other extremely well. Looks like they all had a great time!

Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum!

Children in Years 2 - 6 had a fantastic time at the traditional Rock 'n' Roll Pantomime at the Wolsey theatre this afternoon. The story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk' was superbly adapted to a signing and dancing spectacular enlivened further by a plentiful supply of slapstick and stage magic. Oh no it wasn't. Oh yes it was (repeat until hoarse)...

Although not at the traditional time of our annual visit, this really was worth waiting for, with all children (and staff) having a great time. To be honest, it was a pleasure.

Many thanks to the PTFA for funding transport costs.

Opposites Attract in an Afternoon of Magnetism in Yellow Class

Yellow class welcomed Mr Speight, one of our grandparents, into school this afternoon for a fascinating talk and demonstration of the use of magnets. This followed on from their current science topic of 'FORCES'.
Children watched and listened attentively as a range of magnets were produced and then demonstrated. The children had a great time experimenting with different magnets and physically seeing the effects that they had.
Thank you Mr Speight!

Yellow Class visit Sutton Hoo.

On a not so sunny Wednesday - July 14th - Yellow Class set off with great excitement to visit Sutton Hoo and Tranmer House - the former home of Mrs Edith Pretty. Mrs Pretty had already paid two visits to visit Yellow Class to ask for their help to publicise her treasure finds.




During the day the children were Exhibition Explorers, Archaeologists and 'Mound- taineers' , and here is a taster of what they got up to.




If you'd like to see more, visit Yellow Class during Open Evening on Monday 19th July.